One aspect of gardening that I have been talking about on our radio show “Ready, Set, Grow” on WAKR 1590 AM is the importance of at least supplementing a family’s diet with home-grown fruits and vegetables or at least “locally grown” produce.
The importance of such a maneuver away from entirely “store-bought” food is the fact that much of the food chain is becoming contaminated from foreign sources that do not have the same standards of production and handling of foodstuffs as compared to the U.S. as related to safety and health issues.
No one can argue that fresh produce or fruit out of season must come from some foreign sources; however, non-domestic frozen food and canned foodstuffs are plentiful on grocery store shelves.
As an example, I sometimes purchase “steam-in-the-bag” vegetables for quick preparation and convenience but I accidentally discovered that on the bag was China, Mexico, USA as sources of the contents. When I called the company to inquire if some or all of the contents were from the above sources, the company spokesperson said that in fact the contents contained components from all of these countries and that the company has “full” control of the production process.
I no longer buy this brand of vegetables as I have reasoned that:
1. There is no need import vegetables that are frozen.
2. Imported foods, at least as I perceive it, are more risky to consume because of foreign substandard production and handling methods compared to those in the United States.
A specific example of my concern in item #2 is that the dangerous pesticide Parathion is legal to use on food crops in Mexico but not in the United States. Another of my concerns is the Chinese factor of tainted milk, candies and problems with non-food products such as lead-based paint on children’s toys.
In my seminar two years ago, “American Intensive Gardening”, I presented an efficient way of producing an array of home-grown produce that could be easily frozen or canned to supplement a family’s diet to eliminate or at least greatly reduce the consumption of foreign foods.
I very much resent the food processing companies that procure foreign sources of product when they don’t have to do it. In my view they are more concerned about their short term profits than providing quality domestic sources of canned or frozen foods.
It is wise to read the label on what you’re consuming to discover the listed nutritional content or the country from which it is sourced. Its even wiser to grow and/or purchase locally as many fruits and vegetables as possible although I’m sure there are many in our country that are content to blindly trust that the big food processors would place your family’s health and safety as their first priority.
My very conservative close friend Tom who lives in Toledo, Ohio sarcastically played down my concerns about the safety of imported foods.
I replied that he thought the imported foods were completely safe and healthy then he was free to eat them and prepare them for this family to eat!
I do know that food processors would not intentionally market unhealthy or dangerous products as it would not be in their own best interest. However, with the wider the sources of product, there is more loss of control of production and handling processes.
Frankly, I don’t trust the global food processors to put health and safety of its customers over their own profits, do you?
Tom
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
Monday, January 4, 2010
Dayton "Dirt" - January 1, 2010
Well the bad news first. We’re still not in the depth of winter as the coldest part of winter is after mid-January through early February.
The good news is that we’re more than one week past the winter solstice and the day length is increasing by a few minutes each day.
There’s not much growing now except some young Azalea, blueberries and Rhododendron that we took as cuttings last summer.
Many of you have poinsettias that will last into spring as their flower bracts do not abscure easily like the ones sold in the 1960’s and earlier.
January is the month to study all those garden supply catalogues for all the exciting new cultivars of trees, shrubs, flowers and seeds. Winter is the time to dream away to imagine the possibilities of gardens to come with visions of riotous color from foliage and flowers to a bounty of harvest from your own small fruits, fruit trees and vegetable plants.
Now is the time to start planning your spring garden to get the most from your hard work and not only from what you’ll actually plant but what steps you’ll take to achieve maximum success such as soil testing, soil preparation, spacing of plantings, staggering multiple plantings, etc.
One thing I keep repeating is the importance of planting your own vegetable garden as a supplement to your food sources for a healthy diet. I pulled a bag of vegetables from the refrigerator that are to be steamed in the bag. The taste was mediocre so that when I checked for the expiration date (the bag was well within the date of expiration) I noticed that all the contents of the bag did not come from the United States but also China and Mexico. I called the well known company to inquire about the use of foreign sources of supply for their product to which they supplied the answer that they have full control of quality.
My thought process is that they want to maximize their own profits even if it means there is a greater chance of something slipping by that has been sprayed with dangerous pesticides or is inferior in quality with these foreign sources. I do not buy the brand of frozen vegetables now but only another brand which I read “produce of USA” on the label exclusively.
I just wish I had my own canning or frozen vegetables from my own garden like I preach to you to grow and preserve. Maybe this year I can truly tell you to do as I do and not tell you to do and I do not!
Oh well.
Happy New Year,
Tom
The good news is that we’re more than one week past the winter solstice and the day length is increasing by a few minutes each day.
There’s not much growing now except some young Azalea, blueberries and Rhododendron that we took as cuttings last summer.
Many of you have poinsettias that will last into spring as their flower bracts do not abscure easily like the ones sold in the 1960’s and earlier.
January is the month to study all those garden supply catalogues for all the exciting new cultivars of trees, shrubs, flowers and seeds. Winter is the time to dream away to imagine the possibilities of gardens to come with visions of riotous color from foliage and flowers to a bounty of harvest from your own small fruits, fruit trees and vegetable plants.
Now is the time to start planning your spring garden to get the most from your hard work and not only from what you’ll actually plant but what steps you’ll take to achieve maximum success such as soil testing, soil preparation, spacing of plantings, staggering multiple plantings, etc.
One thing I keep repeating is the importance of planting your own vegetable garden as a supplement to your food sources for a healthy diet. I pulled a bag of vegetables from the refrigerator that are to be steamed in the bag. The taste was mediocre so that when I checked for the expiration date (the bag was well within the date of expiration) I noticed that all the contents of the bag did not come from the United States but also China and Mexico. I called the well known company to inquire about the use of foreign sources of supply for their product to which they supplied the answer that they have full control of quality.
My thought process is that they want to maximize their own profits even if it means there is a greater chance of something slipping by that has been sprayed with dangerous pesticides or is inferior in quality with these foreign sources. I do not buy the brand of frozen vegetables now but only another brand which I read “produce of USA” on the label exclusively.
I just wish I had my own canning or frozen vegetables from my own garden like I preach to you to grow and preserve. Maybe this year I can truly tell you to do as I do and not tell you to do and I do not!
Oh well.
Happy New Year,
Tom
Dayton "Dirt" - December 25, 2009
Merry Christmas everyone!
The story A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens with his life-like characters of Ebernezer Scrooge, Bog Crotchet and Tiny Tim changed Christmas forever as Christmas Day was just another work day in Victorian England.
There are other books such as Silent Spring by Rachel Carson and Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe that have changed the course of history but a Christmas Carol did it for the Christmas holiday.
In the not too distant future, you or your children should be able to roast American chestnuts on an open fire as the American Chestnut, or at least 15/16 of it, is starting to be planted on strips near areas and will soon populate the Eastern forests as the great trees once did.
My Slovak grandmother used to say “You be got health, you be god wealth”, to which her then teenage grandchildren thought nothing of it. Now, being older, I do know that if one’s health is not good, there’s not a whole lot that matters except for maybe food on the table, a warm place to stay, and family and friends.
We’ll be open Saturday December 26th 9:00-5:00 but closed on Sunday the 27th. Then we’ll be open 9:00 am to 5:00 pm through New Year’s Eve after which we’ll close for the winter except for out winter seminars on Saturday.
Someone will be here though to answer all your questions on the phone or by e-mail. We’ll look forward to seeing you at the seminars in our new Owl Barn.
Joyeuox Noel,
Tom
The story A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens with his life-like characters of Ebernezer Scrooge, Bog Crotchet and Tiny Tim changed Christmas forever as Christmas Day was just another work day in Victorian England.
There are other books such as Silent Spring by Rachel Carson and Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe that have changed the course of history but a Christmas Carol did it for the Christmas holiday.
In the not too distant future, you or your children should be able to roast American chestnuts on an open fire as the American Chestnut, or at least 15/16 of it, is starting to be planted on strips near areas and will soon populate the Eastern forests as the great trees once did.
My Slovak grandmother used to say “You be got health, you be god wealth”, to which her then teenage grandchildren thought nothing of it. Now, being older, I do know that if one’s health is not good, there’s not a whole lot that matters except for maybe food on the table, a warm place to stay, and family and friends.
We’ll be open Saturday December 26th 9:00-5:00 but closed on Sunday the 27th. Then we’ll be open 9:00 am to 5:00 pm through New Year’s Eve after which we’ll close for the winter except for out winter seminars on Saturday.
Someone will be here though to answer all your questions on the phone or by e-mail. We’ll look forward to seeing you at the seminars in our new Owl Barn.
Joyeuox Noel,
Tom
Friday, December 18, 2009
Dayton "Dirt" - December 18, 2009
It seems so strange that it’s only one week until Christmas.
We still have a decent selection of Fraser Fir and Scotch Pine and as I stated before, they are all Ohio fresh! One of the box stores in Wadsworth had an advertisement for inexpensive (cheap) cut trees in which the ad states that the trees were fresh and shipped weekly to the store. I went to inspect these “bargains” and found they were not fresh at all but instead ready to burn!
I know before I would take a tree into my house like that I would put up an artificial.
We don’t have a cut-your-own operation of Christmas trees but if you really want to cut your own, I would recommend Galehouse Tree Farm in Doylestown as their name has been synonymous with Christmas trees for years and years.
It’s still not too late to take a soil test in your lawn or garden or the spread if you need it to raise the pH of the soil.
I’m very excited about showing off our new barn when those of you coming for seminars this winter will be able to see it. I think you’ll like everything about it but right now I don’t like the acoustics as the sound is bouncing off the wooden walls and ceilings.
I have to figure out a solution before the seminars begin (at least I hope to work out a solution)
If you come over to buy a cut tree we’ll be happy to put a fresh cut on the trunk if you’re going to put it up the same day.
We’re still making and delivering grave blankets and wreaths to local cemeteries until noon on Christmas Eve as long as the cemetery office is open in case I have trouble finding the grave site.
I must apologize that we sold out of many wreaths and white pine roping early in the season. When I called for a second, fresher batch of roping on December 3rd, the major supplier for all of Northeast Ohio stated they had sold out and that there would be no more!
Hopefully everyone has all the Christmas shopping done by now. I am “one of those” that waits until the last minute as I really don’t like to shop.
For unusual gifts, the Christkindl Market in downtown Akron is interesting as some of the vendors are from Akron’s sister city in Germany called Chemnitz where many family industries are busily making high quality Christmas ornaments as they have for generations.
Well, hope to see you soon.
Tom
We still have a decent selection of Fraser Fir and Scotch Pine and as I stated before, they are all Ohio fresh! One of the box stores in Wadsworth had an advertisement for inexpensive (cheap) cut trees in which the ad states that the trees were fresh and shipped weekly to the store. I went to inspect these “bargains” and found they were not fresh at all but instead ready to burn!
I know before I would take a tree into my house like that I would put up an artificial.
We don’t have a cut-your-own operation of Christmas trees but if you really want to cut your own, I would recommend Galehouse Tree Farm in Doylestown as their name has been synonymous with Christmas trees for years and years.
It’s still not too late to take a soil test in your lawn or garden or the spread if you need it to raise the pH of the soil.
I’m very excited about showing off our new barn when those of you coming for seminars this winter will be able to see it. I think you’ll like everything about it but right now I don’t like the acoustics as the sound is bouncing off the wooden walls and ceilings.
I have to figure out a solution before the seminars begin (at least I hope to work out a solution)
If you come over to buy a cut tree we’ll be happy to put a fresh cut on the trunk if you’re going to put it up the same day.
We’re still making and delivering grave blankets and wreaths to local cemeteries until noon on Christmas Eve as long as the cemetery office is open in case I have trouble finding the grave site.
I must apologize that we sold out of many wreaths and white pine roping early in the season. When I called for a second, fresher batch of roping on December 3rd, the major supplier for all of Northeast Ohio stated they had sold out and that there would be no more!
Hopefully everyone has all the Christmas shopping done by now. I am “one of those” that waits until the last minute as I really don’t like to shop.
For unusual gifts, the Christkindl Market in downtown Akron is interesting as some of the vendors are from Akron’s sister city in Germany called Chemnitz where many family industries are busily making high quality Christmas ornaments as they have for generations.
Well, hope to see you soon.
Tom
Friday, December 11, 2009
Dayton "Dirt" - December 11, 2009
It’s strange but there is a definite pattern to business that only changes slowly over the years.
Our cut Scotch Pine trees are beginning to sell now where as before, only our Fraser Firs were the hot sellers.
Unfortunately, we don’t have Concolor Fir and Douglas Fir this year as a severe frost in May killed the new growth on the trees.
The frosted growth is still hanging on the trees and doesn’t do anything for the saleability of these trees so that we decided to skip a year.
Its not too late to order an artificial or live wreath or grave blanket for delivery or pick up as we will still make and customize the decorations according to your specifications even up to and including Christmas Eve.
If you want one shipped to a distant locality though, it’s best to allow 5 business days.
One of the most beautiful poinsettias this year is called Ice Crystals in which the flower bracts are dark pink with a pale pink to white radiating from the midrib of the bract.
This variety seems to be a favorite of the Cleveland Botanical Garden this year as it is quite unusual as well as beautiful.
For those of you who want to keep a poinsettia from year to year, my advice to you is to throw the plant out unless you enjoy playing with it to get it to bloom next year.
I know that I would never mess with left over poinsettias the next year as to me it’s not worth the hassle.
Be sure not to let your cut tree run out of water as sometimes once a tree runs out of water, it won’t “drink” anymore.
If you haven’t covered your tea or floribunda roses yet, get with it as they do need winter protection.
As the snow falls and doesn’t leave the ground, hungry deer will be chomping on your shrubs such as Taxus, Rhododendron and certain deciduous shrubs so be sure to spray them with Liquid Fence as directed the next dry day that is above freezing.
We had a problem with deer in the Rhododendron-Azalea garden a few years back but the Liquid Fence product has kept them at bay.
It works too on the thousands of tulips at the nursery as were sure to apply the product just as the plants emerge in spring.
If you have deer in your area and have tulips emerging, one day the bulbs will be fine and the next morning they’ll be chomped to bits down to the ground so be sure to mark some required action on your gardening calendar or download our online calendar for your convenience.
Hope for snow!
Tom
Our cut Scotch Pine trees are beginning to sell now where as before, only our Fraser Firs were the hot sellers.
Unfortunately, we don’t have Concolor Fir and Douglas Fir this year as a severe frost in May killed the new growth on the trees.
The frosted growth is still hanging on the trees and doesn’t do anything for the saleability of these trees so that we decided to skip a year.
Its not too late to order an artificial or live wreath or grave blanket for delivery or pick up as we will still make and customize the decorations according to your specifications even up to and including Christmas Eve.
If you want one shipped to a distant locality though, it’s best to allow 5 business days.
One of the most beautiful poinsettias this year is called Ice Crystals in which the flower bracts are dark pink with a pale pink to white radiating from the midrib of the bract.
This variety seems to be a favorite of the Cleveland Botanical Garden this year as it is quite unusual as well as beautiful.
For those of you who want to keep a poinsettia from year to year, my advice to you is to throw the plant out unless you enjoy playing with it to get it to bloom next year.
I know that I would never mess with left over poinsettias the next year as to me it’s not worth the hassle.
Be sure not to let your cut tree run out of water as sometimes once a tree runs out of water, it won’t “drink” anymore.
If you haven’t covered your tea or floribunda roses yet, get with it as they do need winter protection.
As the snow falls and doesn’t leave the ground, hungry deer will be chomping on your shrubs such as Taxus, Rhododendron and certain deciduous shrubs so be sure to spray them with Liquid Fence as directed the next dry day that is above freezing.
We had a problem with deer in the Rhododendron-Azalea garden a few years back but the Liquid Fence product has kept them at bay.
It works too on the thousands of tulips at the nursery as were sure to apply the product just as the plants emerge in spring.
If you have deer in your area and have tulips emerging, one day the bulbs will be fine and the next morning they’ll be chomped to bits down to the ground so be sure to mark some required action on your gardening calendar or download our online calendar for your convenience.
Hope for snow!
Tom
Dayton "Dirt" - December 6, 2009
With the first week of December almost over, the Christmas season seems like its in full swing.
Cut tree buyers are looking for that elusive perfect tree but I always remind myself that a tree that looks “perfect” to me does not to someone else as all of us have our own particular idea of perfection or beauty.
In my opinion, if a cut Christmas tree is too thickly branched, it would look good out in the yard but not as a Christmas tree as ornaments will tend to lay on the tree instead of hanging.
An old-fashioned Christmas would have included handmade ornaments for the tree as well as a garland made from cranberries or popcorn strung together with a needle.
I can remember asking my parents for a Huffy bicycle made in Cleveland that I saw in the Kresge store in the Norton shopping center.
I asked my mother to look at the bicycle and I can still remember her asking me how much it cost to which I replied $19.95.
My mother said “My, that’s so expensive!”
Finally after two and one half years I received the bike as a Christmas present and I still have it!
Fraser Firs are still the favorite cut Christmas tree as they rarely shed needles and are easy to decorate with their soft pliable needles.
Colorado Spruce on the other hand are very sharp needled and generally don’t hold their needles as well.
In some University controlled tests, researchers concluded that the best way to keep your tree fresh is to use plain water.
In fact, many of the different tree preservatives tested actually hastened the deterioration of the tree.
It is important that you make a fresh cut in the trunk of your tree just before you place it in the stand which helps the tree to intake water.
Be sure you do not shave the outer bark from the tree if it won’t fit your stand as the tree for sure will not take up water.
It is best to have the right size stand for the particular tree size but I always liked a stand larger than recommended as it is much easier to stand a tree straight than one that has a crooked trunk.
I have already told you about the Cinco brand of tree stand as it does work extremely well especially when you have a tree with a crooked trunk.
With a Cinco stand, there is no need to upgrade to the next size up as this stand’s design has plenty of room available for adjustment.
As with the past years’, our trees are all from the State of Ohio because I can be sure of the freshness and not worry about the harvesting being done too early as many times it is with big operations farther north.
Happy tree hunting,
Tom
Cut tree buyers are looking for that elusive perfect tree but I always remind myself that a tree that looks “perfect” to me does not to someone else as all of us have our own particular idea of perfection or beauty.
In my opinion, if a cut Christmas tree is too thickly branched, it would look good out in the yard but not as a Christmas tree as ornaments will tend to lay on the tree instead of hanging.
An old-fashioned Christmas would have included handmade ornaments for the tree as well as a garland made from cranberries or popcorn strung together with a needle.
I can remember asking my parents for a Huffy bicycle made in Cleveland that I saw in the Kresge store in the Norton shopping center.
I asked my mother to look at the bicycle and I can still remember her asking me how much it cost to which I replied $19.95.
My mother said “My, that’s so expensive!”
Finally after two and one half years I received the bike as a Christmas present and I still have it!
Fraser Firs are still the favorite cut Christmas tree as they rarely shed needles and are easy to decorate with their soft pliable needles.
Colorado Spruce on the other hand are very sharp needled and generally don’t hold their needles as well.
In some University controlled tests, researchers concluded that the best way to keep your tree fresh is to use plain water.
In fact, many of the different tree preservatives tested actually hastened the deterioration of the tree.
It is important that you make a fresh cut in the trunk of your tree just before you place it in the stand which helps the tree to intake water.
Be sure you do not shave the outer bark from the tree if it won’t fit your stand as the tree for sure will not take up water.
It is best to have the right size stand for the particular tree size but I always liked a stand larger than recommended as it is much easier to stand a tree straight than one that has a crooked trunk.
I have already told you about the Cinco brand of tree stand as it does work extremely well especially when you have a tree with a crooked trunk.
With a Cinco stand, there is no need to upgrade to the next size up as this stand’s design has plenty of room available for adjustment.
As with the past years’, our trees are all from the State of Ohio because I can be sure of the freshness and not worry about the harvesting being done too early as many times it is with big operations farther north.
Happy tree hunting,
Tom
Monday, November 30, 2009
Dayton "Dirt" November 27, 2009
I hope everyone had a Happy Thanksgiving.
I remember the Thanksgiving of 1970 in which all of our family traveled to Rural Valley, Pennsylvania near Kittanning to finish cutting, bailing and loading cut Christmas trees. There was no turkey and stuffing that year as we got so behind on the work and we just had to work in the field to catch up.
Poinsettias are coloring up nicely as the bracts, which are modified leaves, are just about through expanding and donning their crisp colors of red, white, pink, marble and burgundy. Poinsettias, like Chrysanthemums, are sensitive to day length in that short days signal them to bloom.
Poinsettias will not bloom if held over from the previous year if they have interruption from a light at night.
In fact, years ago when Yoder Brothers of Barberton used to grow poinsettias along Van Buren Ave., I remember an article in the Akron Beacon Journal in which the city of Barberton shut off street lights adjacent to Yoder’s greenhouse so that the red light emanating from the lamps would not prevent the poinsettias from blooming.
Its okay to hill up your more tender teas and floribunda roses with bark mulch to at least a depth of 10-12” for winter protection of the bud union near ground level. You will not have to do this mounding with shrub roses such as the knockout series as they are on their own roots and perfectly winter hardy.
Years ago Melvin Wyant of Wyant’s Roses in Mentor, Ohio told me that no matter what you do for winter protection of tea roses, you should expect to lose at least 10% of them.
In fact, his observations led them to believe that yellow roses especially are weaker by nature.
In Wolf Creek Gardens, some of our Rhododendrons are in wind swept areas so that we have put up some burlap screening to break the force of the wind to prevent leaf burning.
You see those big leaves transpire a lot of water and the plants cannot take up water from frozen soil.
It’s not too early to shop for a cut tree as you’re able to get the best selection and we’re able to hold it for you for later pick up or delivery and setup if you’re not ready yet.
I’ve got to go!
Tom
I remember the Thanksgiving of 1970 in which all of our family traveled to Rural Valley, Pennsylvania near Kittanning to finish cutting, bailing and loading cut Christmas trees. There was no turkey and stuffing that year as we got so behind on the work and we just had to work in the field to catch up.
Poinsettias are coloring up nicely as the bracts, which are modified leaves, are just about through expanding and donning their crisp colors of red, white, pink, marble and burgundy. Poinsettias, like Chrysanthemums, are sensitive to day length in that short days signal them to bloom.
Poinsettias will not bloom if held over from the previous year if they have interruption from a light at night.
In fact, years ago when Yoder Brothers of Barberton used to grow poinsettias along Van Buren Ave., I remember an article in the Akron Beacon Journal in which the city of Barberton shut off street lights adjacent to Yoder’s greenhouse so that the red light emanating from the lamps would not prevent the poinsettias from blooming.
Its okay to hill up your more tender teas and floribunda roses with bark mulch to at least a depth of 10-12” for winter protection of the bud union near ground level. You will not have to do this mounding with shrub roses such as the knockout series as they are on their own roots and perfectly winter hardy.
Years ago Melvin Wyant of Wyant’s Roses in Mentor, Ohio told me that no matter what you do for winter protection of tea roses, you should expect to lose at least 10% of them.
In fact, his observations led them to believe that yellow roses especially are weaker by nature.
In Wolf Creek Gardens, some of our Rhododendrons are in wind swept areas so that we have put up some burlap screening to break the force of the wind to prevent leaf burning.
You see those big leaves transpire a lot of water and the plants cannot take up water from frozen soil.
It’s not too early to shop for a cut tree as you’re able to get the best selection and we’re able to hold it for you for later pick up or delivery and setup if you’re not ready yet.
I’ve got to go!
Tom
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